Bird feeders are typically invaded by squirrels and other marauding animals who climb up the post which supports the feeder above ground level and steal the feed or pre-empt the feeder so that the birds for which the feed is intended are denied access thereto. Prior art attempts to solve this problem typically involved provision for a guard about the post at a spacing slightly below the bird feeder, as for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 2,891,508. However, such guards have not always been successful and the squirrels frequently manage to circumvent the guard and climb thereover onto the feeder and steal the feed.